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Three Small Things 11.24.09
11.24.2009 6:57 AM \| Link 0 comments	Last weekend I met my parents in Waco for our usual pre-Thanksgiving visit, and even though it was rainy and foggy, the weather cleared up just enough for Mom's trip to the family cemetery so she could put out new flowers. We had a nice pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my Great Aunt Bobbie and Cousin Clinton in Stephenville, along with early Christmas gifts, and also went out to eat a couple times with my Aunt Geneva. I definitely earned my keep in my role as family tech support, too - I hooked up my aunt's new printer and installed drivers on Windows Vista, showed my cousin how to use his new Blu-ray player (a beautiful LG model), and upgraded Dad's MacBook to Snow Leopard, which was a crazy experience that ended up successful! (The install kept hanging with two minutes remaining, but finally finished after the third try, which was a holiday miracle!) View photos: Waco 2009 It's kind of a shame, but since I type all the time, my handwriting is worse than ever, and even my signature is terrible since I don't write checks! I've already got my Christmas cards ready to send, and I made the weird decision to scan my signature (which I repeated until it was legible) and print it on labels to stick inside the cards. I was already printing labels to share my online info (website, Twitter and Facebook), so it was easy to make a set with my signature (using Avery's amazing Design & Print Online, which is perfect for generating a set of identical labels). It looks pretty convincing, so maybe no one will notice! I recently finished re-reading CS Lewis' classic Mere Christianity (I didn't own a copy, so PaperBack Swap came to my rescue as usual) since it was quoted often in the last series of talks at my church. Even though I had read it years ago, I really enjoyed it again, since Lewis' style of writing sounds like a conversation over a pipe and pint. I love his metaphors and explanations of various concepts, which are always fresh and creative, and I can easily see how they translate into his incredible Narnia stories! Labels: family, holidays, photos, small things
Three Small Things 11.14.09
11.14.2009 3:39 PM \| Link 0 comments	I've never really figured out why I'm such a big fan of Planet of the Apes, but it seems I'm always discovering ape books or collectibles that I want to get my hands on! A few months ago I read about the Planet of the Apes Ultra Detail Figures by Japanese toy manufacturer Medicom that were released in 2000. This series is so amazing not only because they are incredibly accurate (they really do look like the actual actors), but because they span all of the movies! They are no longer in production, but some of the figures (such as the Apeonauts from Escape from the Planet of the Apes) are easy to find at online toy stores, so I ordered a few just for fun. Of course, as soon as I had them I decided to buy more, starting from the cheapest to the rarest, exhausting all the regular stores and eventually finishing up on eBay. Now the last few apes are on their way to my toy museum! All ape maniacs should definitely consider hunting down these fantastic toys! View photos: Planet of the Apes toys I've really been enjoying the latest update to my Apple TV, not only because the new interface is such a welcome change, but because I love checking out the huge variety of internet radio stations! Every morning I like to hear a little reading music, and there are so many classical stations available that I've been trying a new one every day for a few weeks now. I know there's a million ways to listen to streaming music, but I really like the convenience of using my remote to get the music flowing. I still think I may end up getting a Mac Mini sometime next year so I'll have complete flexibility to watch all forms of streaming and downloaded video, but I'm going to miss the consumer polish of the Apple TV, so I'm not in a hurry to switch. My latest favorite way to fill a few spare minutes is to click Wikipedia's random article link and learn something new! On Wikipedia's site, this link appears in the left navigation column, and you can click it all day long and be amazed at the stuff that comes up! The other day I started reading about the Chinese Room argument (which I had never heard of) and got totally absorbed in the philosophy of computer AI! Labels: apes, apple, photos, small things, toys
Three Small Things 10.9.09
10.09.2009 12:49 PM \| Link 0 comments	Lately it's been a nice time to be a Morning Musume fan! Their 41st single Kimagure Princess is coming out soon, so the song and video are all over the web. While I prefer their last two singles to this one (I don't like the chipmunk voice effects on the verse, but the chorus is nice), the video is full of attitude and glamor and I can't believe how great everyone looks! I can't wait to get their new All Singles Coupling Collection, which has all 40 B-sides (many of which I don't have in my collection), and I'm really excited about receiving my first order from the new HelloStoreUSA. It's so cool to be able to buy Momusu goods that were next to impossible to get before! Of course, I'm not looking forward to Koharu's graduation, but only because of the effect it will have on the current line-up (Koharu is my least-favorite, so that makes it easier on me). I'm seriously dreading the day Ai-chan decides to graduate, but even then Sayumi should be around a few years longer! Although I still study Japanese everyday, I don't spend much time writing Japanese essays like I used to when my pal Kumiko was tutoring me. So since my separate Japanese blog was pretty much stagnant, I've moved those essays into the flow of the main WEBmikey posts, and you can easily find them using the renshuu (Japanese for "practice") label. But speaking of Japanese, I've really been enjoying it lately, and I can kind of feel my vocabulary is substantially growing, so I've decided I want to take the JLPT again in 2010! Next year will be the first year with the new levels, so I'm excited about trying N3 (which is between the old Level 3 and Level 2, meaning it's a nice progression for me). That means I'll be re-focusing my studies next year (under Kumiko's tutelage), and I'm looking forward to it! Finally, I wanted to mention that as of yesterday I've finished with this year's Christmas shopping! That may be a new record for me, but I have to order things early to give them time to ship, so I can wrap them and pass them off to my parents at Thanksgiving. On the subject of buying, using my Amazon Visa for everything (and always paying it off) has really raked in the bonus Amazon dollars for me. I've already earned over $425 bucks this year! Labels: japanese, jpop, morning musume, small things
Three Small Things 8.09.09
8.09.2009 10:44 AM \| Link 3 comments	I've been getting behind lately taking photos of my new PEZ, LEGO sets, and other toys, mainly because I'm lazy! I decided that part of my procrastination has to do with getting out the USB cable and transferring my photos to my iMac, so I thought I would take that out of the equation by getting an Eye-Fi card for my camera. I've been interested in these SD cards with built-in wi-fi for a long time (I was pretty amazed by the idea when they first came out), and now they are so cheap. It didn't take long at all to configure everything, and now while I'm shooting my toys the photos are magically being transferred to my iMac simultaneously. It's a pretty simple concept, but I'm totally into convenience, so maybe I can keep up with my ever-growing toy collection now! Since I've been eating the same kinds of simple meals for quite a while now, I've been trying things to keep them interesting. Lately I've been putting salsa on just about anything, since salsa is incredibly low-calorie. I don't think I had ever had salsa on scrambled eggs before, but now I love it! Salsa is also my only topping for a baked potato, too - no butter, no salt, just salsa. I also put it in black beans for some extra flavor. I haven't been trying any exotic brands, but I think I'm going to branch out since I'm using it so much. I haven't written about Japanese in a long time, so here's a quick update on my language studies (yes, I haven't stopped!). I'm still a big fan of Smart.fm, and I'm really close to completely finishing my fourth course. I discovered a truly awesome site called Read the Kanji that may be the easiest, most fun way to study kanji ever invented, and I can't believe how nice it is to crank through a few hundred words every now and then (it's really reinforcing my vocabulary, too)! Since the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is getting re-leveled next year, I'm pretty sure I want to take the N3 test (which is between the old Level 3 that I have already passed and the incredibly difficult old Level 2), so I may completely switch into studying mode next year. Until then, I'm having fun studying via the web and "practicing" by watching Jpop shows! Labels: japanese, small things
Three Small Things 8.01.09
8.01.2009 11:33 AM \| Link 0 comments	It's been much too long since my last Three Small Things post, so here we go! I've been doing lots of walking for exercise recently, usually taking two walks a day in the hot sun during work breaks. I've been using RunKeeper on my iPhone to track my progress, and I totally love it (even though I am only using the free version). Unlike a pedometer, RunKeeper actually uses the iPhone's GPS to figure out how far I've walked, and even shows me exactly where (here's the stats for a typical walk). It even sends a tweet for me, so I can tell the world I'm exercising! I'm always looking for different healthy snacks to try (carrots can get pretty boring!), and my latest discovery is frozen grapes! I just buy a bunch of fresh grapes, wash and pick them off the stem, then put them in a Ziplock and pop them in the freezer. No matter how long you leave them in the cold, they don't turn into total ice cubes - they keep the consistency of delicious mini popsicles! I love to snack on them this way, so the hardest part is savoring the flavor and making them last. After a few years of having the most boring About page in blogging history, I've finally done something with it! I always had trouble because so many people list favorites on their About pages, and my favorites are always changing, so I just tried to mention all the cool things I love (with tons of links back into relevant WEBmikey pages). Check it out and maybe you'll discover something (but I doubt it - you know me well enough already)! Labels: iphone, small things
Three Small Things 6.22.09
6.22.2009 12:24 PM \| Link 0 comments	Even though it's a giant multi-month task, I'm really enjoying reorganizing my entire photo library into iPhoto. What I like about it is that I'm forced to take at least a quick glance at every single shot I've taken since 1999, and often I find things I never knew I had! For example, during my first trip to Japan, Barron took a picture of me with a Godzilla poster. I was only a casual Godzilla fan then, but now it's so cool to know that the movie is Godzilla vs Megaguirus, which was current in the theaters at that time! I have had tremendous success with PaperBack Swap, and now I have so much to read that I don't know where to begin! I've been really lucky with posting books that people want (they are usually snatched up the moment I make them available), so it's been no problem getting credits to use. I have received about 10 books (some manga, graphic novels, and even a hardback book), and all of them were in great condition! I'm always tempted to keep browsing around the site, but I need to catch up with some reading first! I'm suffering from double vacation excitement right now, since I have two incredible trips coming up! In less than two weeks, I'm going to Anime Expo in Los Angeles for the Morning Musume concert (as well as some good times with my pals Dae and Ernesto), and just this weekend I booked a September vacation to Walt Disney World with my pal Melinda. My brain is simultaneously dreaming about the concert and thinking about all the Disney fun in store. Now I'm using every spare moment to scour the web for inside information about Morning Musume autograph sessions, as well as planning which Disney restaurants to book for reservations! Labels: disney, godzilla, morning musume, photos, small things
Three Small Things 3.3.09
3.03.2009 8:37 PM \| Link 0 comments	I have three Apple-related things to mention, which have nothing to do with Apple's cool new hardware releases today (although I really want to snag a new iMac now!). The first is that I have finally discovered the joy of video playlists on my Apple TV! When I first got my Apple TV, I remembered I wished this feature was possible, but then when it was included in the latest update I forgot about it. The reason it's so great is that now I can make a playlist of a ton of Jpop videos, kick it off, then sit back and enjoy my own personal MTV (with better music and cuter girls). I download and watch at least 5 or 10 new videos every week, then save the best ones that I know I will want to watch again, so now I can watch a whole series of my favorites with one click! Recently I was poking around for some new wallpaper for my iPhone, and I suddenly got the idea to try one of my scanned Intellivision overlays. The result is pretty cool, since you can just about size the images perfectly (with just a little cut off vertically), which makes it look like I have cool retro game buttons on my iPhone all the time. I've been using Space Battle lately, and now whenever I unlock my phone I have the urge to click Return to Base! Although I love getting up early, I've been really bad at making it happen for the past couple months. I think I've decided my alarm clock sound is completely unbearable (I actually dreamed it was a dentist's drill once), so I hate setting it. Last night I suddenly got a clue and realized I should just use my iPhone alarm clock, since I have lots of beautiful soothing ringtones that I bought from iRingPro. Today my new pleasant alarm woke me up on time and I had a great morning! Labels: apple, iphone, small things
Three Small Things 2.18.09
2.18.2009 8:42 PM \| Link 0 comments	I just finished shredding a year's worth of old statements and other paper documents, which was easy to do with my semi-heavy duty shredder, but while I was doing it I realized that all of those documents did nothing but take up space for the past few years. I don't even look at new statements anymore since I can see everything online! Previously I had been reluctant to switch over to paperless options from my bank, credit cards, and so on, but I suddenly decided it was time. I've just switched everything I can, so instead of all that paper I'm just going to get email messages! I used to be much more of a coffee snob than I am now. Recently I started trying out different kinds of coffee from the grocery store, and I've been buying it pre-ground (just to be lazy). I used to always grind my own beans, but now I haven't used my grinder in several months, so I just cleaned it up and put it away. Sometimes being lazy helps reduce countertop clutter! I finished my second complete course on iKnow today! It's been fun to watch my stats get better, and it's definitely a nice way to keep the Japanese from falling out of my head. The next course has some really tough vocabulary, though, so my days of coasting are over! Labels: decluttering, japanese, small things
Three Small Things 2.12.09
2.12.2009 7:46 PM \| Link 0 comments	I really wish my Apple TV could natively listen to internet radio (which I can do via Boxee anyway), but it's still cool to enjoy the great (and long) music podcasts that are out there ready for free streaming from the iTunes Store. Lately I've been listening to the WGBH Classical Performance Podcast, which features live studio performances by soloists and small ensembles. It's perfect for background music while I'm reading, and the variety of pieces (not to mention the quality) is fantastic! I've been trying to get back into playing Dance Dance Revolution a little more regularly, which means having fun with Endless Mode on DDR X. I really like the way Endless Mode is handled on this version of DDR, since the different levels provide an easy way to combine different song difficulties, plus the way you can keep continuing a single game over multiple sessions is super fun (which can make Endless Mode truly endless!). The funny thing about continuing a single game over 90 songs or so is that the score becomes ridiculously high. My current game (over the past several days) is now scored at 193,363,845,194,021 - I seriously copied that off the TV, so it's not made up! I'm tempted to keep the same game going to see what happens to the score. Will it stop at all 9s or roll over? Do you know any 42 year-olds with parents who still send them Valentine's Day cards (with generous checks inside)? If you know me, you do. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest kid in the world! Labels: ddr, family, music, small things
Three Small Things 2.6.09
2.06.2009 12:24 PM \| Link 0 comments	I finally tried out my DrumDial drum tuner that I got for Christmas, and it was really amazing and interesting to use! I tuned my rack tom and snare to the suggested tensions, and from what I can tell without playing my full kit at home, the results will be awesome (a little lower pitched than I'm used to, but so much more resonant). It was pretty fascinating to see the dial move as I tightened the rods, and it was crazy to see how off my ear-tuning was (but of course, it's tough to hear the differences at each spot on the drum head). I'm looking forward to hearing how the whole kit sounds together at my next gig! For quite a while I was addicted to Sayumi Michishige and Reina Tanaka's (of Morning Musume, of course) individual talk radio shows, and I used to download them and try to keep track of them in iTunes and on my iPhone. I really enjoy the shows, which are great for Japanese listening practice (translated transcripts are often available online), plus they feature some cool music (not to mention that Sayu's cute laugh cheers me up every time!). Anyway, I stopped listening to them since I got tired of managing the downloads, but now the awesome site Sayumin.org (which features nearly all the Hello! Project radio shows) has a special iPhone website with streaming capability! I can listen to Reina or Sayumi anytime I want without downloading a thing, which is awesome and convenient! (In fact, I listened so much during work yesterday that I totally drained my iPhone battery - I'll be more careful next time!) You might remember that I was saving up my Disney Movie Rewards points to get the exclusive Zorro DVD set, and thanks to all the DVDs I got for Christmas, I was able to finally order it! It arrived last week, and it looks like a fantastic six-DVD set - I thought it might be a little cheap since it's not sold in stores, but the artwork quality is really nice, and I'm looking forward to watching the entire series (after I finish the rest of my Christmas sets, of course). I'm sure I'll be singing the Zorro theme song for weeks in the future. Labels: disney, drums, jpop, morning musume, small things
Three Small Things 12.15.08
12.15.2008 8:02 AM \| Link 0 comments	I promise I do a lot more with my time than watching TV, but today's things all have to do with the magical entertainment box. By far the coolest thing to come along recently is Netflix Watch Instantly streaming on TiVo, which is working beautifully on my wireless network! It's really cool to have 12,000 movies and TV shows ready to play anytime with no additional charge, and the quality is great. It looks especially spectacular on newer shows that are actually streaming in HD! The only negative aspect is now I'm tempted to watch crappy movies that I would never actually rent, just because they are instantly available, but hopefully that feeling will wear off. I'm mainly enjoying catching up on 30 Rock, since I haven't seen the first couple seasons, and I also watched The Santa Clause 3 again recently (which is definitely kind of a dud, but I have to watch Christmas stuff this time of year!). I finally got a call from Time Warner about the availability of the almost mythical tuning adapter (so I can watch switched digital video (SDV) channels on my cable card TiVo), so I picked one up this weekend. It was easy to hook up, with only a small snag in getting authorized (which was painlessly solved thanks to the great people on the TiVo Community forums), and now I have several more channels to watch, most in HD! None of the new stuff is really earth-shattering (I'm mostly excited to have Boomerang again), but now as new HD channels get added I'll be able to check them out. I also have to admit that over the past month or so I actually re-watched all 50 episodes of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (the live action series). I don't know what gave me the urge to check it out again, but it was still lots of fun! Surprisingly, I had forgotten some major plot points of the story, so it was pretty exciting, too. I really enjoyed being able to understand much more Japanese this time, since I originally saw the show four years ago - it's nice to have an indicator that my language skills really have improved a little! Labels: sailor moon, small things
Three Small Things 12.7.08
12.07.2008 11:15 AM \| Link 0 comments	Most of my decluttering projects seem to be digital these days, and recently I've finished working through my entire iTunes library (over 15,000 tracks) to organize things with correct artist names and so on. I've also made sure I have album art for every single track, and I've even deleted some duplicate songs and bombs that I never listen to. Going through everything with multiple views (by artist or by album) was a big help, and it feels great to have it all complete. Now I can move on to my next project, which is pruning seven years worth of photos! Each year when my parents visit my relatives in Ohio, they go to an orchard and bring me back some fresh apples to enjoy! I've been munching on them for a couple weeks, and they were really delicious. Normally I only buy Gala apples at the grocery store, but it's often hard to find really good ones and I come home empty handed, so it's been nice to have tons of wonderful apples each day. Ohio apples are a nice holiday tradition for me - unfortunately, they're all gone now! I'm not ashamed of being an Amazon addict, and I use my Amazon Visa every chance I get so I can earn gift certificates to use. Since I recently bought my new MacBook and a few Christmas gifts, my points really went through the roof, and the other day I received four $25 certificates all at once! Of course, right now I'm trying not to buy anything to prepare for Santa's avalanche of gifts, but it's really cool to have $100 waiting for me to spend at my favorite store. Labels: decluttering, itunes, small things
Three Small Things 11.30.08
11.30.2008 7:34 AM \| Link 0 comments	Today's three things are all related to Apple! I recently bought the cool new aluminum MacBook (which feels so sleek and light), so I had to get my old white MacBook ready to give to my dad (which was a big upgrade from his 500Mhz iBook!). Since I had taken that white MacBook so many places, the bottom surface was totally scuffed up, discolored and gray. I tried things like Windex, Fantastik and even pure alcohol, but nothing would clean it! Then I remembered reading some rave reviews of Magic Eraser, so even though I was skeptical, I decided to give it a try. It worked perfectly, and with a little scrubbing, the MacBook looked brand new again! I was totally amazed and impressed - I have no idea how it works, but I definitely recommend Magic Eraser! Now that Dad has the white MacBook, he's truly enjoying the speed boost, and he can do things that just weren't possible on the iBook. Since both of our MacBooks have built-in iSight cameras, we can also use iChat to video chat! It's so easy to get a chat started, and the video and audio quality is really amazing to me. The video is quite smooth, and the audio can handle simultaneous talking so well (much better than a speakerphone). It's been really fun to see Mom and Dad and show each other things that before we could only describe! iChat can also handle screen sharing, so if Dad ever needs some Mac help, I can control his screen and show him what to do. I use screen sharing everyday at home between my two Macs, and it works great. My Power Mac upstairs tends to be my workhorse machine, constantly cranking on torrents or video conversions, so I'm always wanting to know when it finishes a task so I can start up the next one. Rather than walking upstairs all the time, I can just view the Power Mac screen using my MacBook, which saves me a lot of steps (but maybe I could use a few more trips up the stairs to stay in shape)! Labels: mac, small things
Three Small Things 11.4.08
11.04.2008 8:07 PM \| Link 0 comments	I really like using my HEB "green bag" that I bought a while back (for a mere 99 cents). It's definitely cool to help the environment in a really small way by not using plastic bags, but it's also super convenient, too! The green bag holds much more food since it has a nice flat bottom, and the handles make it so easy to carry. I always keep it in my car for quick grocery trips, which is usually all the grocery shopping I do, so my one green bag generally holds everything I buy! It feels good to know that I'm brushing my teeth the full recommended two minutes, thanks to the timer built-in to my electric toothbrush. I have a really cheapo model, but it still includes the timer feature that makes it pulsate after you've been brushing two minutes. Some days that feels like I long time, and other days it feels quick, which just proves I have no idea how long I'm brushing my teeth, so I'm glad I have a timer to handle that for me! I've had Google ads on WEBmikey for years now, but I only get a few clicks per week, so it takes forever to make the minimum $100 to get paid. So, it's a big event for me when I hit the threshold, and I just did! It never hurts to have a "free" $100 check from Google, and I'm looking forward to receiving it (which pretty much pays for my hosting costs). Labels: small things
Three Small Things 10.31.08
10.31.2008 6:34 AM \| Link 1 comments	Recently NASA has really been a part of the internet community by using Twitter to regularly communicate about various missions. Reading these updates has not only been interesting, but it also provides an anthropomorphic way to relate to these spacecraft that are so far away! I've really enjoyed following the Phoenix Mars Lander, and yesterday it seemed like the end of the line, since it's beginning to freeze up. I was actually sad when it said "I should stay well-preserved in this cold. I'll be humankind's monument here for centuries, eons, until future explorers come for me." It make me think I was talking to WALL-E! While Phoenix goes to sleep, now I'm going to follow Cassini while it orbits Saturn! Since my portable digital life is 100% handled by my iPhone now, I decided to sell my iPod on Gazelle (which I mentioned previously when they were called Second Rotation). Once again, it was a super easy experience, since it's simple to get an offer online, then they take care of everything, including sending a shipping box! In a few weeks I has $60 bucks in my PayPal account, which is a great deal if you ask me. I only wish I had more electronic junk to sell! For years now I've been using HaloScan to capture comments on WEBmikey, since Blogger's own commenting method used to be pretty lame. But recently Blogger finally got their commenting act together, so now I can finally use their nice integrated comments. For now all of my old posts will still have HaloScan links, but the new posts are using Blogger comments, and I think they look nice! (Yes, I know rarely get comments anyway, but when I do they will look better.) Labels: small things
Three Small Things 10.22.08
10.22.2008 6:34 AM \| Link 0 comments	I need to amend my previous mention about Dad's iPhone App Store obsession, because now Dad has Mom hooked, too! My parents have always been slot machine fanatics, and after Dad downloaded Reel Deal Slots, Mom started playing it like crazy. She plays it whenever she has a break in the day, or while she's watching TV in the evening, and Mom and Dad both go crazy when they get a bonus round. Together they have racked up a huge amount of fake money (and real hours of time!), and I love it that my old iPhone is having such an active life with my parents! I have a Jamba Juice for lunch at least once or twice a week, since it tastes delicious and it feels good to know I'm eating (drinking) something fresh rather than all those frozen dinners. Last week there was a new employee who got the proportions wrong and accidentally made enough for two full smoothies, so they gave me the second one for free! I didn't want to have two for lunch, so I put one in the freezer and ate it the next day with a spoon. It was like a healthy ice cream-ish treat! The Austin Symphony just updated their website, and while I was checking it out to write yesterday's review, I was surprised to find my Leila Josefowicz review linked right on the home page! I've always considered my posts to be much more personal recollections than actual reviews, but if the Austin Symphony appreciated what I wrote, then I'm happy! It may not be on the home page for long, but they have a special excerpt page that hopefully will stick around. It's strange seeing my words on a professional site! Labels: small things
Three Small Things 10.11.08
10.11.2008 8:17 AM \| Link 0 comments	Last weekend the external hard drive that I use to store my 14,000 iTunes tracks decided to bite the dust! It had been cranking away under heavy use for over eight years (which is a pretty long time for a hard drive), so I wasn't too surprised. You would think that would be a really bad thing, but here's the good part! I backup stuff once a month, and had just done my monthly backup the day before, so even with the crash I lost absolutely nothing - not a single file! That's some pretty amazing timing. I've already bought a new replacement 500 GB drive, which turned out to be $100 bucks cheaper than the one I bought last year! I was contacted by an author in Austria (of all places) who might want to use one of my PEZ photos on the cover of his self-published book (which is about eBay selling). It's kind of nice when the web makes stuff like this possible - I hope he ends up using the picture! I use the Netflix one-at-a-time unlimited plan, so when I finish watching a DVD, I like to get the next one in my queue as soon as possible (and I just watch Japanese TV shows in the meantime). I discovered that if I drop my DVD envelope off at the post office (which is conveniently on my way to work), they will usually tell me they've received it the very next morning and ship the next DVD later that day! The turn-around time is about a day faster than sending them from my own mailbox, and I'm really enjoying getting DVDs more often. Labels: small things
Three Small Things 10.4.08
10.04.2008 8:37 AM \| Link 0 comments	When my parents bought me my new iPhone 3G, I gave Dad my old iPhone since he was interested in using it on WiFi around the house (after all, he originally bought the old iPhone, too!). I figured Dad would have fun doing a little web surfing, but I had no idea how much he would get into the iTunes App Store! Dad is totally addicted to downloading just about every free app available, and he's having a great time playing with the iPhone, learning all about the features and buying accessories and so on (you can always tell Dad is into something when he buys a case for it). I'm always happy to see Dad excited about cool products and technology! Even though I spend most of my DVD time watching Netflix movies, I recently took a break and decided to re-watch some of my favorites from my collection. It was really nice to enjoy Lost in Translation, Amadeus, and even Logan's Run all over again, and it felt cool to actually make use of the DVDs on my shelf! I even wanted to see Planet of the Apes again, but I realized my copy wasn't anamorphic, so I need to re-buy it sometime. Mom left me a little bag of candy during my parents' last visit, full of peppermint Life Savers and other things I like. It's nice to grab one after lunch before I head back to work, and I always think of Mom and all the things she does to make me happy. That's a lot of good feeling from a tiny piece of candy! Labels: small things
Three Small Things 9.08
9.24.2008 7:54 AM \| Link 0 comments	Often I think of little things that make me happy, but I never mention them on WEBmikey because I feel funny about writing short posts. So, I've decided to just save these thoughts and mention them three at a time - hopefully this will turn into kind of a series! Before my parents came to visit, I decided to buy some new home stuff, which I hardly ever do. I got some new sheets and pillows for my bed, and I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying them! The pillow is especially cushy and feels so nice as I drift off to sleep. I also got new bathroom items (tissue dispenser and trash can), and they are much better than my old ones that I had for so long - I should have replaced them much sooner! When I took my parents to IKEA, they bought me a couple coffee mugs that I noticed. I'm really picky when it comes to mugs - the size has to be just right (big enough to hold enough to drink, but not so big that it gets cold before I can finish) and I like a certain feel to the handle. These are perfect, and I've been enjoying some Swedish coffee in them - it wasn't too fancy or expensive, but the flavor is so rich! When I got my Apple TV, I was only thinking about watching downloaded video, but lately I've been really into using it to listen to music! It's so convenient to flip it on and enjoy the cool display of album art while I'm reading or something, just like a big iPod in my living room. Labels: small things